NEWS: Facebook Tests a Cool New Ad Format on Mobile

Facebook is testing a new ad format that puts it ahead of the competition

The social media giant appears to be rolling out a new ad format — location-based recommendations (perfect for travelers, like myself). Here’s what we know so far:

Certain users will receive a notification that alerts them of restaurants and amenities nearby. Wesley Young reported on Marketing Land that the notification had read: “You’re near 3 highly rated restaurants you might like.”

Based on your location and interests, Facebook sends you notifications that will take you to a map with multiple pins. These pins show listings with valuable information like star rating and reviews. Most importantly, once you click on a listing, you’ll be taken to that business’s Facebook page.

This update highlights Facebook’s predictive intelligence capabilities. With this update, this platform is providing local search results before the user reveals intent to buy.

Why is Facebook’s Advertising Effective?

Facebook ads have the capability to outperform other social media platforms and, with regards to search ads, remain highly competitive. Let’s take a look at how effective Facebook Ads are when compared to other search and social media ads.

According to data from WordStream, the average CTR for Facebook ads hover around 0.9 percent. Comparably, Google AdWords sits at 1.91 percent. Additionally, Facebook boasts a 9.21 per cent average conversion rate compared to 2.7 for AdWords.

Unfortunately, other social media platforms don’t have the same success as Facebook. 20 percent of consumers made a purchase in response to an ad on four major social media platforms: Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and Twitter. Of those 20 percent, 16 percent made their purchase on Facebook, while only 4 percent did on Instagram, 2 percent on Twitter, and 1 percent on Snapchat.

So why are users generally responding to Facebook ads more than other ads? Facebook has the audience data and targeting capability that makes their ads highly effective. They have social data like interests, articles read, pages visited, posts liked, and other ads clicked that all help create detailed profiles that Facebook uses for precise targeting.

Facebook isn’t the only platform on social media where advertising works, but because it understands the user, it is very effective. Take a look below where you’ll find four takeaways on what makes Facebook advertising so effective.

Social media data is rich and will only grow and expand as consumers who use the platform continue to spend more time on there. Use these detailed profiles to target your ideal audiences and spend less by reaching the right people, and those who want to hear from you.

Different platforms require different strategies depending on the way people consume content on the specific platforms. You should customize your marketing to the social media platform’s format.

Targeting the right audience is one half of the battle. Getting them engaged with a clear cut message is the other half. Make sure your content looks and feels natural.

We don’t need to tell you how important measuring your ROI is. It’s important to understand which audience targeting works.

Local businesses often find it difficult to find the time to customize their marketing campaigns. But if you take the time to actually customize these campaigns and target your specific audience, you can get a high ROI.

Thirmizi is an Account Manager at Techwyse. With his fascination for Social Media Marketing and Photography, he's grown his Instagram organically and is a maestro at Influence Marketing. You'll find him exploring the world and documenting his travels on his free time.